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Coffee - Healthy or harmful?
- Bean coffee has an antioxidant effect, calms and at the same time throws up.
- Caffeine counteracts the development of cancer.
- Filter coffee prevents diabetes II and heart disease.
- Caffeine in high doses stimulates the production of stomach acid and can thus contribute to hyperacidity. A slight mental dependence is possible.
contents
- ingredients
- application
- Is coffee harmful? Myths and facts
- antioxidant
- Caffeine against cancer?
- Depression, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
- Lustkiller or sexual enhancer
- Honey coffee for coughing
- Heart disease and diabetes
- Negative effects of coffee consumption
- The black gold of Ethiopia
- Mocha is not Turkish
- coffee houses
- coffee colonialism
- Coffea - Organic
- environmental damage
ingredients
A cup of real coffee contains around 100 milligrams of caffeine. This caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, so the body releases more dopamine. That increases the concentration. However, the opposite occurs with a large amount of coffee consumed: the concentration decreases. Instead of calming down as initially, those affected become hyperactive. Why that is so, science has not yet found out.
The harmfulness of coffee is still rumored today. According to recent studies, coffee is more likely to be given healthy properties. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com) application
In order to avoid the reversal effect and to increase the concentration by coffee continuously, you should drink instead of several cups of coffee during breakfast rather small quantities over the day. This is especially true for people who work at night. In other words, anyone who takes a thermos of coffee for the night shift and occasionally sips it makes it just right.
Is coffee harmful? Myths and facts
Myth 1) Coffee increases cholesterol and blood pressure!
Studies show that drinking coffee regularly does not affect blood pressure. Filter coffee also does not affect the cholesterol level: To increase this slightly, you would have to chew coffee beans or coffee powder, and in larger quantities.
In 2003, the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute withdrew a warning that people with high blood pressure should not drink much coffee. A study of at least 150,000 women showed no relationship between coffee consumption and high blood pressure.
Myth 2) Coffee is not a drink because it removes fluid from the body!
No, coffee is a "normal" drink. You can evaluate the cup of coffee as well as juices, spritzers or lemonade as a fluid intake. Caffeine is dehydrating. With regular intake of similar amounts of coffee, however, the diuresis settles down.
Coffee counts as juices and spritzers for daily fluid consumption. Dehydrating it works only at unusually high consumption. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com) Myth 3) Coffee harms the cells!
The opposite is the case. Coffee contains polyphenols that protect the body's cells, and the caffeine helps to dispose of cancer-prone cells, as mentioned earlier.
Myth 4) Coffee is generally harmful!
The food chemist Thomas Hofmann of the Wilhelm University says: "The statement that coffee is generally harmful is no longer tenable today. (...) In the past, some of the negative effects of individual coffee ingredients were transferred to the entire coffee complex. "
The German Green Cross stated in 2009: "The regular consumption of three, four or more cups of coffee exerts a positive influence on numerous organs and bodily functions. In some diseases, coffee even appears to have a marked preventive or protective effect. Basically, therefore, in most cases, for medical reasons, coffee does not have to be dispensed with. In individual cases, one should consult with a doctor again. In particular, this applies to women in pregnancy. "
antioxidant
Coffee has an antioxidant effect, opens the cells and promotes blood circulation. In the US, the brown drink is the most important antioxidant. Although there are quite a few vegetables and fruits that contain more antioxidants, these are not enough to eat in America. Green coffee among all foods the highest percentage of certain antioxidants in the form of chlorogenic acid.
Caffeine against cancer?
University of Washington researcher Paul Nghiem argues that caffeine in coffee and black tea protects against skin cancer. Thus, human skin cells prepared with the caffeine mutated less frequently to cancer cells than untreated after UV irradiation. According to Nghiem, caffeine acts on an enzyme that eliminates waste products in the cells. If this enzyme is active, the cells destroy themselves. This only happened in cells that were damaged by the UV radiation. In other words, the caffeine made sure that vulnerable cells did not develop into cancer cells.
A 10-year study from Tokyo also found that only 214 out of 100,000 people who drink coffee develop kidney cancer, as opposed to 514 who do not drink coffee. The antioxidants in coffee should protect against oxygen radicals that cause the cancer. What's more, the higher the coffee consumption, the better the prevention.
The University of Ottawa also found that several cups of coffee reduce the risk of breast cancer in women by up to 70 percent and also protect against bladder and colon cancer. Caffeine is also said to significantly improve the effect of chemotherapy.
Depression, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
Drinking coffee reduces the risk of developing depression. This suggests at least one study of over 50,000 older Americans. Since caffeine boosts the release of dopamine, coffee enjoyment is also considered a way to prevent Parkinson's disease, as well as Alzheimer's.
Caffeine stimulates the release of dopamine, so coffee is also considered a way to prevent Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. (Image: Photographee.eu/fotolia.com) Lustkiller or sexual enhancer
Ever since coffee conquered Europe in modern times, scientists and gossip journalists are discussing the effects on potency. In 1923, a man named Amantea claimed he had proven that coffee boosts sex drive, lets us experience orgasm more intensively, and increases the amount of sperm. However, nothing was proved. A new study from 2006 only showed that caffeine increases sex drive in rats. Whether coffee consumption affects the potency of people, science can not say.
Honey coffee for coughing
Iranians swear by a paste made of honey and coffee powder for a cough. An Iranian study proved the effect of this home remedy. What's more, this paste works even better than cortisone, say at least pulmonary doctors of the German Lung Foundation from Hannover, who pursued the study.
The pulmonologist Dr. Morr states, "Up to a quarter of patients experience a chronic cough following a cold or upper respiratory tract infection, defined by their prolonged scratching in the throat and sudden onset of coughing for at least for three weeks or even over several months. "
Prof. Morr continues: "Honey is one of the oldest known remedies that our grandparents knowingly recommended. Coffee also has analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. Especially a combination of these two natural remedies, which is not yet common in the medical literature, has now proven to be highly effective against post-infectious irritable cough. That this combination is at the same time much cheaper than other drugs and associated with much fewer side effects, does not need to be emphasized. "(Www.lungenaerzte-im-netz.de)
Heart disease and diabetes
A "Coffee and Lipoprotein Meabolism Study" in the USA in 2005 came to the conclusion that caffeine coffee has no negative effect on pulse rate, body mass index, blood sugar level, insulin quantity and blood sugar values. Another study of 45,000 men confirmed that coffee consumption poses no threat to coronary or cerebral vascular disease.
A study of more than 120,000 men and women showed that more than six cups of coffee per day reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus - men by 50 percent and women by 30 percent. However, the researchers could not rule out that the life habits of coffee drinkers, unlike people who do not drink coffee, could play a role.
A 2006 study showed that the anti-diabetes effect applies to both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. The preventive effect can therefore not be attributed to caffeine, but for example to antioxidants, polyphenols or minerals.
The positive effect of coffee on diabetes is attributed to antioxidants, polyphenols or minerals. (Image: interstid / fotolia.com) Negative effects of coffee consumption
Caffeine can lead to a slight mental dependence. Disease symptoms include: dissatisfaction, tiredness, depressive moods, difficulty concentrating and mild drowsiness. Caffeine stimulates the production of stomach acid and can therefore lead to hyperacidity in excess. Drinking coffee in large quantities slows down the absorption of calcium and magnesium and lowers the magnesium level in the blood.
The black gold of Ethiopia
The country of origin of coffee is Kaffa in southern Ethiopia. Myths circulate about how people there discovered the coffee bean: Goats slept sleeplessly all night long after eating the red fruits of a shrub. A shepherd had eaten the fruits and was not tired. Then monks cooked the fruit, drank the broth, and they too stayed awake. Roasting is said to have been invented by a shepherd when he threw the fruit into the fire and enjoyed the aromas he had created.
Mocha is not Turkish
Anyway. Anyway, at some point people realized that the coffee beans were roasting and drank the peppy drink. Southern Ethiopia was a hub of the Arab slave-catchers and they brought the coffee to Arabia around 1300. Since then, Arabia has claimed monopoly and distributed the beans over the Yemeni city of Mokka - hence the name mocha coffee.
The Ethiopians grind the beans in a mortar today, then boil them with water and sugar in a clay jug and drink it in small bowls. The preparation is similar to that of Turkish mocha.
Turkish mocha is still produced today after traditional preparation. The term mocha actually goes back to the Yemeni city of Mokka. (Image: kristina rütten / fotolia.com) coffee houses
In 1554, the first coffee house opened in Istanbul, but by the end of the century, Murad III forbade coffee, as he interpreted the prohibition of alcohol in Islam generally as intoxicating drinks. Later, coffee houses were even demolished in the Ottoman Empire. This did not spoil the popularity of the drink, the coffee sellers now camouflaged their cafes as barber shops. Since 1839 coffee houses are allowed in today's Turkey again.
From Arabia, coffee house culture first reached the Italian city states, then London, France and Vienna. Founders were Christian Armenians. In Germany, English and Dutch opened the first coffee houses in Hamburg in 1677 and 1694, then in Regensburg, Leipzig and Bremen.
coffee colonialism
The Dutch soon controlled the coffee trade after they planted coffee in their colonies in Indonesia in the 17th century. In 1690, Dutchman Van Hoorn had coffee plants grown in Ceylon. In 1710 the first plants came to Europe. In 1720, Frenchmen started coffee in Martinique, 1725 in Cayenne, 1730 in Guadeloupe. In 1727, the Portuguese planted it in large quantities in Brazil. The coffee in Latin America was generated by African slaves and slaves who were exploited to the death by the colonial rulers.
Coffea - Organic
Today, there are more than 14 billion coffee plants in the world. Main growing countries are the tropical West Africa, Uganda, Indonesia and Vietnam. There are also India, New Guinea and Latin America. Coffee can survive only under very specific conditions. It does not tolerate any weather changes, but needs 18 to 25 degrees Celsius and a lot of rain (at least 1500 millimeters per year). Therefore, mountain regions that are naturally mountain rainforests are ideal. The plants thrive best at altitudes of 500 to 800 meters. The plants do not like direct sunrays, but shadows. Coffee cultures are therefore at shadow hedges. In addition, coffee bushes do not tolerate alkaline soil, but do well with slightly acidic soil.
Coffee plants multiply by seeds, cuttings or grafts. After eight weeks, the seeds germinate best, the planters sow them in seed beds now. There, after five weeks, the first leaves emerge, the young plants come into pots. After eight months they are allowed to go outdoors. The best harvests start at the age of three and remain stable until the age of ten.
environmental damage
The traditional method of cultivating coffee trees in the shade of trees had little negative impact on soil and biodiversity. The original habitat was not destroyed, although the biodiversity decreased compared to natural forests, but many species arranged with the management. Today, however, farmers tend to grow coffee on cleared areas in monocultures. Useful insects that kill coffee pests disappear, and planters use pesticides to a large extent instead. Birds can no longer find nesting and foraging trees. Soil erosion and lack of water are everywhere the result of this depletion. In organic farming, however, no pesticides are used and the ground vegetation is partially preserved. The pioneers of organic coffee cultivation are Ethiopia, Peru and Mexico. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)